A Familiar Tune
by KayKoala
Summary: After ten years of no contact, Rachel and Finn see one another at their 10 year reunion.
1. Chapter 1

It had been ten years since Finn Hudson had received his diploma from William McKinley High school. Ten years since his world had completely shifted and he had let Rachel get on that train to New York, making his way to Georgia. Which meant it had been nine and half years since she had officially broken up with him. Nine and a half years since he'd talked to her or seen her aside from those occasional Broadway show promotional pictures that his mother would always try to show him. But not that he was counting.

"Finn Hudson!" Sam Evans called, patting the tall man's shoulder with enthusiasm. "Hey! Wassaaaaaap! How you doing man?! It's been like what, 10 years or something like that?" The blonde held out a hand for a handshake. "I'm kidding dude, I know that, it's the ten year reunion. Duh."

"Sam? Hey man! How ya doing? I'm great!" Finn chuckled. "You haven't changed a bit! Hey...What are you doing here, isn't your reunion next year?"

"Yeah, I'm just here supporting Mercedes. She's smokin' tonight, have you seen her? Apparently she saw Mike and Tina making out in the bathroom; probably don't have much time for that with all their Asian babies."

"Yeah totally." Finn chuckled. "Are you guys like together again? I didn't know that. That's cool."

"We're kinda testin' things out for a second time, yeah." Sam nodded, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. His eyes wandered the crowded, overly decorated gym as Finn focused on filling his plate at the food table beside them. A tanned, leggy brunette pushed back dark brunette curls and smoothed down her tight black dress from across the room. He nudged Finn, keeping his eyes on her. "Dude...Is that Rachel?"

Finn splashed the scoop back into the punch clumsily and quickly turned back, surveying the room. Sure enough he followed Sam's gaze to the back of the trendy, heel-wearing woman.

"Maybe it's not her, she's short but I can't tell..." Sam squinted.

The woman turned her chin slightly, making her prominent nose visible but Finn hadn't needed the evidence. He'd know her body anywhere. "No dude, that's her. Didn't think she'd come..." He muttered before turning away to sip some punch.

Sam shrugged a little and nodded at his friend. "Me either I mean...a successful Broadway lady who probably lives in some mansion in a New York skyscraper after being made fun of for her weird animal sweaters in high school. Didn't see that comin' either. Plus you're here. Uh..." Patting Finn's shoulder in sympathy, Sam quickly made his exit from the food table. "Good to see you man, catch ya later. Good luck."

Finn stuffed some popcorn straight from the bowl into his mouth and tried not to think about Sam's words. He and Rachel had broken off contact nearly a decade ago and each had their own lives now. It's not like he was going to talk to her.

"Finn Hudson?"

Finn swallowed and quickly grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth as the all-too familiar voice sounded from behind him. How had she made it across the room that quickly? Maybe she did that scary, crazy march. If that was the case, she was probably coming to kill him. He mustered up a small smile and turned around to face an equally beaming Rachel Berry. "Rachel. Hi."

"Hi." Was all she said, widening her toothy grin.

Finn shrugged a little. "Uh, you look great! Wow. I'm happy you could make it. I know you've been busy. Well I've heard you've been busy."

"Yes I'm sort of in the middle of a show right now but they gave me the weekend off so I flew down, saw my dads which has been wonderful. How are Carol and Burt?"

"Cool. They're great, I'm sure they'd give their love if they were here."

They both bobbed their heads in a light nod as silence took over, Rachel taking the liberty to rub her lips together to smooth out her shimmery lip gloss. Finn couldn't help but let his eyes wander there for a moment. Shaking it off, he turned back to the table for another glass of punch. "Well it was nice seeing you. Have a nice night."

"Oh-I was just going to grab myself some punch as well..." She stated, reaching over for a cup. "Are you still in Lima?"

"Yeah, I'm still at McKinley actually. I'm a teacher here- and I run the Glee Club."

She looked up at him with surprise. "No way! Wow, that's exciting, Finn. I'm sure you're great."

"Thanks. And you're great in New York." The tall man nodded. "You got everything you wanted. If you're staying longer than tonight, you should visit Glee Club or something if you want."

"Like perform for them? Give a motivational pep talk?"

"No, more like just sit and watch for fun..but if you want to give a talk or something I'm sure they'd be up for that!"

"Ill keep that in mind. Prepare a little something after I test out the waters." Rachel chuckled, softening her voice. "I'm glad you're good."

"Me too." Finn smiled at her for a moment, patting her arm gently and making his way past her to greet others.

* * *

"Whoa! Violated! Violated!" Kurt Hummel panicked as an arm grabbed his, forcefully pulling him towards the ladies' room. He got a face-full of dark curls as the door opened and he yanked his arm free. "Oh it's you. What happened?"

"Look I-I know we've been unbearably good with the whole you don't bring up anything Finn-related with me or vice versa but..." Rachel swallowed to halt her rapid speech, and shook her head breathlessly.

"Okay so I'm guessing we need to bring him up...I told you he'd be here Rachel. Did you talk?!"

"I know! I know, you broke that rule to give me fair warning because there were exceptions if he happened to be in a location which I was heading or he died, and I appreciate that, but I wasn't fully prepared!" She took another calming breath and glanced down to the floor. "It didn't feel real. I thought, I've had my fair share of new men-far and few-but I figured seeing him would be easy. A polite hello how are you and we'd move on our separate ways. We just made small talk but I feel like I'm going to vomit."

"Okay.. okay well then it's a good thing we're in a bathroom..." Kurt sighed and took the little brunette's arms gently. "Rachel, it's been 10 years... was there /still/ tension?"

"A little. I don't know if he felt tense or just less...familiar than we used to be." She broke loose from his grip and turned to face the mirrors. "Can I break the vow and ask you a question?"

"We broke the vow 5 minutes ago. Shoot."

"Is there someone?"

She watched Kurt quiet down, leaning against the wall with a sigh. "I'm not sure if it's still going on but.. the last time he told me about her.. yes. There's someone." he mumbled sympathetically, glancing at the reflection of his best friend.

Rachel nodded lightly, dabbing her face with cold water (careful not to smear her make-up). "Well then no point in moping over the unchangeable! It doesn't matter anyways, I'm happy for him. For them both. Besides we wouldn't be very good together, it-it's been to long and we're in very different places."

Kurt nodded slowly. "Maybe.. a friendship?"

"Maybe just less avoidance. We're mature adults now. He asked me to visit the glee club while I'm here and if I don't I'll look like the loser who couldn't bare to face the past."

The fashion magazine editor pouted lightly and made his way over to Rachel to give her an encouraging squeeze. "Maybe it'll be good to be back for a day. You haven't been here in forever. See the choir room in all it's glory."

"I have sort of been planning my returning pep talk should I ever be asked to speak as a McKinley alum..."

"Mm of course. Perfect timing then! Monday morning, I expect you be in the choir room Ms Rachel Berry.


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of Rachel's heels against the linoleum floors echoed through the empty halls of McKinley. She slowed her usual quick pace at the sight of her old locker but knew she had to stay focused. She could do this. She slowly opened the door to the choir room, emitting a quirky smile. "Am I interrupting?"

The room looked the same-chairs lined up on the large steps in the back of the room; a grand piano facing away from the group of kids who inhabited the seats; the shelf of trophies, however, was noticeably fuller. Finn greeted her with that familiar half-smile and Rachel's heart ached a little less. It was a sure sign he was genuinely happy to see her.

"Rachel! Hey...not at all. Come on in. Let me just continue my intro and I'll introduce you-"

"Rachel Berry does not need an introduction. We know who you are, you're practically a McKinley High legend. Not to mention one of the current greatest performers in theater out there!"

"Thank you, Jessica." Finn chuckled. "Let's focus on the lesson, kay? Alright so we discussed the different types of /pop/.. pop music." Rachel couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked in dress pants and a tucked-in button down. Had he lost a few pounds? If he had, he'd certainly toned up.  
Finn scribbled down the word 'POP' onto the white board with a big grin. "So just because the music is bouncy and makes you wanna dance doesn't mean it's meaningless alright? Think about that when you guys perform today. Emotion, alright?" He cleared his throat and glanced at Rachel. "Like Jessica said, _this_ is my pal Rachel Berry.. she is one of the original New Direction members and if you don't know already she's a huge star in New York right now so I thought it'd be really cool for you guys to meet her. You wanna...say anything, Rachel? Floors all yours." The teacher waved a hand and took a seat on the stool, letting Rachel take center stage.  
It felt just like high school.

"Thank you." Rachel nodded, smiling at the group of young faces. "As your teachers already said, I was a glee club member myself. As was he. I might not have been the most popular or the person with most twitter followers at school but I had big dreams, big goals, and I stuck to those. Never looked back or let anything distract from the finish line. The important thing though is having that balance. What fun is being well known if you don't have anyone you care about to cheer you on?"

A bored looking red-head girl in a Cheerio outfit, raised a brow. "Okay so I'm guessing you're an old maid. Is that where this speech is going?"

"Pardon me, but the point is that it's a team effort. Whether its your fellow performers or the people in your life who support and do what's best for you. It's easy to get caught up in big dreams and push other dreams away."

Finn kept his eyes on her and turned to his students with a nod. "Guys, she is 100% right. Teamwork is super important so learn how to defend one another, not put them down."

"Are you going to sing for us?" A wide-eyed girl (had Jessica been what Finn called her?) looked at her hopefully. The question was something Rachel had (of course) expected but nonetheless it felt strange. It had been nearly a decade since she had belted a tune in this very spot.

"Yeah, let's see what the star has for us." Finn smiled encouragingly. He watched as girl he had once known so well, made her way back to the place she had sung so many solos in high school. Some of those solos had been for him. He wondered if she still cried often when she sang.

The class seemed mesmerized as she belted out the Funny Girl song "People", even the lesser enthused students keeping quiet. He had forgotten how strong Rachel Berry's voice sounded; the way it gave you chills and radiated through the whole room as if there were no other sounds audible. The students gave their applause and snapped him out of his revere.

"Barbra Streisand song." The instructor grinned. "Nice choice. Wasn't that incredible, guys?"

The red-head spoke up first. "You really sit around watching Babs movies, ?"

Doug, a sleepy looking boy in the back gave a shrug. "A chick probably forced him into it. That's why I gotta watch those Bella and Edward movies sometimes."

The Cheerio made a face. "Those Twilight movies suck."

"It's good she lets me touch her boo-"

"Books." Jessica elated quickly, covering Doug's mouth. " it's already passed 5:30 so technically we kind of half to leave now."

Rachel quickly walked over to the counter, waving a stack of booklets. "It was a pleasure meeting you all. I did being some extra playbills if anyone is interested! They're signed!" The Jessica girl grabbed a stack and everyone else passed her by, quickly exiting the room. "They're a uh...interesting group of kids. Reminds me of some I used to know..."

Finn chuckled and packed up his briefcase. "Like our club? Yeah. Happens every year. I guess we weren't that original. Or maybe we were and they're all impersonators." He chuckled. "Thanks for coming! They loved you- well I know Jessica did."

"She seems very driven." The starlet said, pumping her fist lightly and leaning back against the piano. "I admire that."

"I wonder why..."

Rachel laughed and took a seat on the bench. "It was kind of unnerving, you remind me of but in very uniquely Finn Hudson fashion. You're a good teacher, they look up to you."

Finn smiled lightly and gave a shrug. "Thanks, I try. I love my job so I figured that'd already make me a good teacher. I love helping them accomplish their dreams."

"And along the way you found yours."

He chuckled and sat down in a choir chair, watching Rachel tap her fingers lightly against the keys of the grand piano. "Corny but true." Tilting his head a little, he broke the silence that fell over them once again. "So how's it feel? Being back in here again after like 10 years."

Rachel glanced back up at him, taking a moment to formulate her answer. "It doesn't feel real. It's nostalgic, familiar, it brings back memories but at the same time it feels like a whole new place. Sort of like listening to a song you used to have memorized but now you can only remember the tune."

The man nodded and patted his knees. "So uh, I should head out."

"Of course!" Rachel smiled. It was a smile that that looked to wide to be real. He could read her like a book. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Yeah, thanks again!" Finn stood up quickly, giving a shrug. "It was good for the kids."

"Right, well...It was good to see you again, Finn." Rachel extended a hand forward, giving his a firm shake."

"Yeah, same." Finn watched as she stuffed the stack of playbills back in her bag and hurried out the door with a wave.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as Rachel passed the threshold of the choir room door, her face contorted into scrunched, silent tears. It all felt to familiar. Walking down the empty halls crying over Finn. She had thought she was long over that.

She could hear the sound of Finn's shoes leaving the choir room and heading in her same direction so she quickly took a few composing breaths and brushed away any evidence of her woes, in case he'd catch a glimpse. The heel of her left foot slipped in an unknown substance and the diva waved her arms to keep balance. Finn's eyes widened and he dropped his briefcase, hurrying over as he awkwardly caught her armpits. "Whoa..." Finn chuckled, helping Rachel regain balance from the icy blue puddle. "Looks like some slushie or somethin. The janitor's probably coming to clean that up any minute."

The little Jewish woman looked frazzled, primping her hair into place and smoothing down her dress. It was probably the shock of the near-fall, he thought. Or maybe the abrupt contact. "They still slushie here?!"

"Yeah...You still got that kid who likes to cause trouble every once in a while." Finn said, shaking his head and handing her back the bag that had dropped to the ground.

Rachel checked her heel and brushed her bangs back into perfect place before taking her purse. "Well...At least I didn't fall and break my talent."

Silence fell over them once again, this time being broken as Rachel burst into a loud, good-natured cackle. Finn furrowed his brow before bursting into a grin of his own. "Hey I remember that. At least I got you this time!"

"These slushies still have it out for me!"

"Seriously. You're okay, right?"

"Yeah." Rachel's smile softened and she watched the man in front of her adjust his briefcase over his shoulder. The question she asked next sounded from a voice that felt foreign. A decibel higher and so much more vulnerable than her usual confident tone. "So do you have a family or anything? Anyone special or significant?"

Finn's smile diminished and he raised his brows. "A family? Like a baby? Nah." He replied, shaking his head. "But I have a girlfriend. Well she's not really a girlfriend. It's not- it's not official or anything."

"Oh..." Rachel nodded slightly. "Do you love her?"

"We haven't been together that long, I dunno..." Finn furrowed his brow again and looked at Rachel's saddened expression What does it matter? Maybe I will someday. So what if I did?"

"Then I'd scold myself for letting you go be happy for the both you."

Finn frowned and shook his head for a moment. "You know I shouldn't even say anything to make you feel better right now- cuz-cuz to be honest, you don't deserve it. Rachel, it's been _ten years_... you broke up with me- cuz I wasn't being a man and I didn't talk to you for 3 months. Well you didn't talk to me for ten years! And now you just expect me to want you back? Not everything revolves around your schedule."

"I didn't want to want you back, okay! I didn't come here to get you back." Rachel snapped, feeling the familiar tears welling in her eyes. "But seeing you again...makes me realize that every single relationship I have feels wrong. _Wrong_, Finn. I feel like..." There was no holding back the waterworks now. "Like I'm betraying myself. Because you're the only man I've ever really loved truly and deeply and wholly. And it scares me that I still feel this way just from seeing you again, it scares me!" She pointed a finger, her voice twinging with hysteria. "And you broke contact with me!"

Finn could feel his anger welling, years of bitter heartbreak causing his voice to boom out at tiny woman before him. "Then why'd you come here?! Why'd you say hello at the reunion? If you don't want to feel this way, then get over me already! You keep telling everyone you are and then-and then you just show up and start asking me if I'm single. I'm so sick of this- I'm so sick of making you cry too!" The tall man frowned, taking a step back and rubbing his forehead to keep calm. The woman across from him wiped her face and took two breaths of composure.

"I don't know." She answered in a whisper.

"Yeah? Well I do." Finn frowned, his tone softer. "You can't have more than one dream; you don't let yourself do that. You picked the New York dream- cuz that's what you always really wanted. Ya know I-I put you on that train so you could be a star and look at you now. You did it. Congratulations, Rachel, I'm happy for you. And I came back cuz I loved you and I thought maybe we could figure out how to work both the Broadway dream and the guy dream but you said it was over. And then you moved on two seconds later. And now clearly that didn't work out so what, you're back to me again? Am I the rebound guy this time?"

"Okay. You're right, I shouldn't have asked." Rachel sounded quietly.

"Yeah you shouldn't have come back."

Rachel gave a small nod and glanced down as the tall man in front of her covered his eyes with a hand. Taking that as her cue, she made her way out the front doors.


	4. Chapter 4

Kurt Hummel let himself into the neat and organized Berry home after hearing a distant "It's open!". He could hear the distinct music and dialogue of 'The Way We Were' even before setting foot in the living room to see Rachel Berry clad in purple sweat pants, pajama shirt, and lazy pony tail. She pulled blankets from the floor and cocooned herself inside them, readjusting her bowl of whole wheat cereal for dramatic effect.  
"Oh dear." Was all Kurt could manage.  
The girl had texted him clearly in distress, but this was bad.

"I'm a failure in love." Rachel droaned as Kurt took a seat on the arm of the sofa. "Finn and I had an encounter." She kept her eyes glued to the TV gloomily and pouted her lips.

"I see...I'm guessing things didn't go well."

The Jewish girl glanced at Kurt, her voice a flat monotone. "I contemplated jumping off the top of the Gershwin Theater."

"Oh. Well at least you picked an iconic powerhouse of musical theater legend.. too bad we're in Lima." He pouted lightly and shook Rachel's knee. "Hey, I'm trying to cheer you up! Come on! It couldn't have been that bad!"

"You can't cheer me up. I'm suffering from chronic depression and failure to maintain a solid relationship that isn't a Broadway show." Rachel stuffed a spoonful of cereal into her mouth and continued to talk. "He said I have no right to barge in and ask for him back again. He's right. I'm a slave to my past naive decisions. This stuff is so good, I'm debating letting myself go."

Kurt watched the brunette inhale another spoonful and gently pried the bowl out of her hands. "Oh no. No no, I'm already debating whether to keep you in those sweats for the night." He shuddered. "So it's been ten years.. something tells me that you haven't been to far from his mind over the years either."

Rachel eyed him skeptically and glanced back to Barbra. "Well it doesn't matter, he would have to come to me and clearly he didn't want that. Hence why I'm watching The Way We Were. It gives me a bitter sense of pity and nostalgia."

"Rachel. Look, maybe he's in shock. Sometimes you can come on a little...strong. Besides I don't think him and this girl of his are anything serious so you never know what could happen now that he's seen you alive and well!"

"What if I've pushed him to far? Visiting glee club is one thing but then I practically asked if he was available on the market!"

"You always push him too far and he always come back. That's the way it works with you people. Because he loves you."

Rachel seemed to contemplate his words and glanced down, toying with the blanket. "You don't think it's crazy to still be in love, do you? A decade later. I mean do I really have a chance."

Kurt shrugged and scooted over to wrap his arms around his friend. "I think you and Finn will always have a chance. Reminds me of two great lovebirds I know."

"Who?"

"Blaine and myself." The boy smiled, giving the girl a playful nudge. "Wipe that frown off your face..." He started to sing, watching a bright grin appear on the face across from him.  
"Kurt, stop it..."  
"This isn't a real song, but you should sing-along, Miss Rachel Berryyyyyyy!"  
"Okay. I get it! I get it. I feel a little better."  
"Good."

Kurt gave the little Berry a squeeze and turned his attention to the movie. "You need to work your game, Rachel Berry. Win the t-Rex back."

Rachel beamed and rested her head on Kurt's chest. "I'm a little rusty. But I'll go back to McKinley tomorrow."

"That's the crazy, determined diva I know."


End file.
